Weapons in Fantasy That Deserve More Attention: Part 1

I don't know if you've noticed, but there is a definite trend in fantasy to lean towards certain weapons. Especially swords. Now swords are cool and all, but they're almost always long, double-edged ones or katanas that are used. And in some situations, swords are just plain impractical. Besides, often it's just more intersting to use something a little different and surprise your readers. So i have compiled a list of weapons that really ought to have their turn in fantasy books.

Ball and Chain

A ball and chain is a hard metal ball, or balls, often with spikes, connected to a handle by a chain. This is a weapon that takes advantage of momentum, as you can whirl it around in the air, building up speed, and then strike with it. Used properly, this one can pack a lot of power, crushing bones, and maybe even armor.

Billhook

A billhook is a large, single edged knife that curves inward at the tip. It is often used much like a machete in the countries of Europe that grow grapes for wine. They look wicked cool, and wicked sharp, a truly terrifiying and deadly choice for any character.

Biowarfare

Biowarfare is definitely possible in sci-fi, so why not expand it to fantasy? Biological weapons modified by magic could cause some pretty interesting conundrums for the characters. Especially if one or more are unwittingly spreading the enemies' magical plague.

Bomb

Bombs are more of a classic from the superhero genre. The villain sets a bomb, the hero has to save the person tied to it. It's almost cliche at this point. But if gunpowder, or the magical equivalent, exists, why can't a few carefully used explosives do the job to flush out the villain?

Boomerang

Boomerangs are really cool aerial projectiles. They can be made out of various materials (wood, metal, etc.) and come in a couple different shapes to boot. Sokka, from Avatar: the Last Airbender uses a boomerang rather effectively in combat, even taking out one of their most formidable enemies with it.

Burning Glass

A burning glass, is not, in fact, glass that is on fire. It is a glass lens that is used to set things on fire. It is very handy when your enemy uses a lot of wood to build their ships and camps. In fact, supposedly Archimedes actually used one of these to burn down a Roman fleet.

Chakram

A chakram is

a throwing weapon from the Indian subcontinent. It is circular with a sharpened outer edge and a diameter of 12–30 centimetres (4.7–11.8 in). It is also known as chalikar[2] meaning "circle", and was sometimes referred to in English writings as a "war-quoit". The Chakram is primarily a throwing weapon but can also be used hand-to-hand. A smaller variant called chakri was worn on the wrist.

 Basically it's a metal circle with a hole in the middle, and a blade on the outside edge. Like a weaponized frisbee.

Club

A club is crude, yes, but very effective when brute force is required. A few well-placed blows with sufficient strength can fell any enemy easily. They can even be customized to match fictional cultures and be made out wood, stone, or other materials.

Crossbow

It's smaller and more compact than a long bow, and technically has less accuracy and longer reloading time, but is a great addition to a general arsenal, adding a little more style and sophistication. It can be used as a precursor to guns.

Dart Gun

There are a lot of different typs of dart guns. Air-powered ones that resemble rifles, blowdart guns, or even crossbows. Blowdarts were used in book the Wings of Fire series by the RainWings to tranquilize trespassers. They are small and can be loaded with darts tipped with poison or tranquilizers, making them both versatile and handy to carry, as well as very quiet.

Escrima Sticks

Typically escrima sticks are between 28" and 32", the exact size depending on the size of the owner. They're small weapons that I made of wood and held in the hands. Rather useful for one-on-one combat, and easy to carry around. As a bonus, someone who is not familiar with this type of weapon may not recognize it for what it is, either.

Falx

A falx is a blade with a curve on the end and the name originally meant something along the lines of "sickle" in Latin. It's sharp on the inside edge and was used by the Romans as a seige hook. This is yet another way to get rid of all those stereotypical non-curved blades in your story.

Farming Tools

This may seem to be a bit of a stretch, but:

The nunchaku was developed from a flail used to separate rice from the husk, and the tonfa was originally an axle for a millstone. The kama was nothing more than a sickle. The sai was modeled on a tool used to plant seeds, and the shuriken were crafted from washers used to fasten house beams.

 If you have a character who was originally a farmer, why not give them one of these and keep with the theme?

Flails

A flail is a long handle with rope, or chain, or something of the like, attached to it, and a striking head attached to the chain. The striking head can have spikes, and has a generally villainous appearance. One advantage is that you are able to build up speed when swinging the flail, and

The chief tactical virtue of the flail was its capacity to strike around a defender's shield or parry. 

Glaives

Glaives look really cool. It's a type of European polearm with a single-edged blade, similar to the Japanese naginata. It's got a long handle, often called a pole, to which the blade is attached. This gives a longer range than a normal sword, but does not require the weapon to be thrown like a spear is.

Greek Fire

Greek fire, in essence, is fire that is literally impossible to put out. You can always create variations, but it's more or less fire that can't be put out by water, and, instead burns on it.

Halberds

Yet another pole-weapon. This one is two handed and looks like a spear combined with an axe. It's a nice long distance weapon that looks very intimidating and originated in medeival Europe. 

Hammer

Hammers are acutally great weapons. A war hammer, when properly used may not be a very elegant weapon, but it's effective. A hammer used for combat does not have the pointed end that a hammer used for carpentry does, instead, it is blunt on both sides, making it double-sided.

Hand-to-Hand Combat

Hand-to-hand combat is not an actual weapon. On the other hand, (pun intended) it is worth mentioning here, as a person's body can be used as a weapon. Punching, kicking, throwing people and more can be just as, or even more effective than your typical weapon. Most characters probably can't find weapons, and anyone can at least throw a punch.

Heavy Iron Gloves

These are exactly what they sound like. Gloves that are made of heavy iron to help make your punches a whole lot harder. Needless to say, these are much more effective than normal boxing gloves are.

Kamas

Kamas are basically the Asian version of the scythe or sickle. They're a smaller weapon, with a slightly curved blade. These originated from Japan, and Southeast Asia, often being used to harvest crops like rice. It was also integrated into a few martial arts, including karate.

Kukri

This is a type of machete that is curved. It is used both as a tool and a weapon where it originated from. They're also single-edged.

Maces

A mace is very similar to a flail. They very often have a striking head that is directly attached to a handle. Some are more club-like than flail-like, but there is a lot of room for variation and experimenting.